Huddersfield Bully: Jamal says thanks as bigots feed on his story

Jamal, the 15-year-old Syrian boy allegedly attacked by a school bully, is grateful for £130,000 raised by well-wishers to help his family. Yesterday he appeared at a protest outside his school organised by the Huddersfield Pakistani Alliance. Jamal was at the school with his father to thank members of the public who had donated money. The cash will allow the family who fled Homs in 2010 to leave West Yorkshire and begin a new life.

Mirban Aslam, 41, who organised the school protest, is quoted in the Times. He says the “system” had failed Jamal and his family. “What other issues have this family and others faced, is there others across the country?” he asked. But it only took a few days from the video of the alleged assault going viral for the police to get stuck in. As for “other issues”, well, why speculate? Guessing and filling in the blanks is a dangerous game. MPs and BBC personalities have waded into the playground spat. Agendas and prejudices are piggy-backing on a minor incident.

The BBC’s Andrew Neil says the playground row “shames our country”

As soon as the Mail introduced the name Tommy Robinson into the story – the paper claims the 16-year-old who’d allegedly attacked Jamal had liked the former EDL leader’s videos (so what? – the BBC also considers his opinions worth listening to) – it wouldn’t be long before the rabble rouser rocked up. The Times looks at where speculation and monocular ‘journalism’ can get you:

Tommy Robinson, the former English Defence League leader, defended the 16-year-old boy accused of attacking Jamal and claimed that the Syrian boy had attacked two schoolgirls.

That claim is bunkum. But then – get this – a playground row between a teenage twat and a Syrian refugee goes to the heart of the nation and our politics. Yeah, really. The Times makes links:

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, called on Labour supporters and “anyone who cares about the future of our country” to join a Momentum demonstration in London on Sunday to oppose Robinson and other far-right figures.

This is how you make Robinson appear relevant. You big him up by supporting trammels on free speech. You promote what you are not by restricting conversations on migration, Islamism, cultural tensions, racism, grooming gangs, division fuelled by identity politics, police bias, multiculturalism and individuality. And into the vacuum where debate and the free and open exchange of ideas should be slide opportunists able to present their opinion as the ‘truth’. The Times continues:

Yesterday Robinson, 36, a convicted fraudster whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, uploaded a Facebook video in which he claimed that Jamal was not “innocent”.

Robinson reposted a screenshot of a message on his Facebook page supposedly from the mother of one schoolgirl claiming that her daughter had been bullied. He attached a message to the post that said: “Here’s the truth. But fear of Muslim gangs silences it.”

Utter tosh. Robinson’s ‘truth’ is censorship’s bastard child.

Three hours later he published another message, referring to another Facebook post in which it was claimed that the schoolboy had attacked another schoolgirl with a hockey stick. He added: “There’s always two sides to a story. The media just want to lap up the ‘poor Syrian refugee’ story. “I was sent [the post] the minute the story came out. I have been contacted by loads at the school. They are all scared.”

Later the mother of the schoolgirl referred to in the first posting added another message on Robinson’s site denying that it was Jamal who had attacked her daughter. Her Facebook page has since been deleted…

A spokesman for West Yorkshire police said that the force was not aware of any reports of the Syrian boy allegedly being involved in an assault on a schoolgirl.

Best of luck to Jamal and his family. They’re in the West, where free expression and free thought are theirs for the taking. Enjoy it while it lasts.